Commuting allowance

University employees are entitled to an allowance for the cost of travelling to work. When you commence employment, your commuting allowance is automatically calculated from the number of kilometres that you travel to work. If you relocate, your commuting allowance is recalculated and adjusted if necessary.

How does it work?

You do not receive an allowance for the first ten kilometres, but receive 7 cents per kilometre above this, up to a maximum of € 45 per month. The allowance is tax-free, and you receive it as a net sum with your monthly salary. If you work full time, the allowance is for a maximum of 214 days. If you work part time, the allowance is adjusted in proportion.

If you are a student assistant or a student on placement and you have a student OV-chipweekkaart, you are not eligible for an allowance. Nor will you receive an allowance if the guarantee scheme, special circumstances or particular agreements (for instance you have a disability card) apply to you.

How is the allowance calculated?

The allowance is calculated from the distance between your home and work addresses. Routenet is used to calculate the fastest route, and the number of kilometres is rounded to the next full kilometre.

For example

You live 23 kilometres away from your work:

23 km – 10 km = 13 km

13 km x 2 (round trip) = 26 km

26 km x € 0.07 = € 1.82

€ 1.82 x 214 working days = € 389.48 per year

€ 389.48 divided by 12 months = € 32.46 per month

This may be adjusted according to the average number of days you travel per week.

When does the allowance expire?

The allowance stops after 20 days of all forms of leave, with the exception of annual leave. Payment recommences on the first day that you resume work. If you are ill for a longer period of time, payment recommences once you are able to work 25% or more of your contractual hours.

Guarantee scheme

When the new commuting allowance regulations were implemented in 2015, it was decided that employees should not receive a lower commuting allowance than they would have been entitled to in the 2005 regulations. If that would be the case, the old regulations remain in force until the employee’s situation changes. The guarantee scheme expires if:

the employee moves from salary scale 5 or lower to salary scale 6 or higher;

the employee has successive temporary contracts that together amount to longer than 3 years;